Page 76 of Blood of Vengeance

A growl sounded inside my mind, low and vicious in its intensity. As if even the idea of keeping my inner beast locked up was any sort of option.

“My wolf would rip me apart.” That seemed to appease the fucker as he quieted once more. I could still feel him, though. Still sense him watching the world through my eyes. He was a wolf ready for a fight. Craving it. But he was going to have to have some patience. I nodded toward the house in the distance. “How long are we going to wait on them?”

Cutter looked toward Zed and Mule, who had appeared from out of nowhere as if walking away from the house. The two men heading right for us, obviously ready to give us the low-down from their recon.

“Just waiting on him,” Cutter said with a nod toward Zed.

The warlord glanced at me before focusing on the old man. “Truck looks workable to me and Mule. We won’t know for sure until we try to start it, but it doesn’t look like they tore it apart.”

“See a way off the property for it?”

Mule pointed behind us. “Straight through the front gate. That’s the only way.”

“Who’s driving her?” I asked, wanting to make sure I understood the plan.

“I am.” Mule crossed his arms over his chest. “I’ve got the most experience with that truck. I can run it.”

Facts—the man had been Chiggy’s personal mechanic for a lot of years. He also had a penchant for fast cars, drag racing, and all-around tearing it up with anything that ran with a combustion engine. He’d even taken a few cars to the salt flats over the years. He’d likely outrun anything on the road so long as that truck’s engine held on. And being that he’d likely been the last one to work on said engine, he had the most knowledge of how far to push it.

Cutter nodded his approval, his expression strong and fierce but tense. As he should have been. “So you need cover from us.”

“Yes.”

I shrugged, stretching and cracking my neck for show. “You’ll have it. Get the truck back to the clubhouse. No matter what.”

Mule gave me a chin nod. “No matter what.”

“You ready to go?” Cutter asked, looking more toward me than Zed for some reason.

“Fuck yeah. Let’s get this shit done.” I whistled low and long for the rest of the guys, jerking my head in the direction of the house once I had their attention. “It’s go time.”

Everyone rose to their feet and began collecting their weapons. No discussion, no need for further directions. This wouldn’t be the first time we’d infiltrated a domicile as a team; it wouldn’t even be the first vampire nest some of us had dealt with.

It would be the first time I’d put myself in danger since finding my mate, though.

“You good?” Zed asked in a quiet voice as if he could read my thoughts.

I nodded, my focus torn. Part of me worried about Locklyn and wanting her as far away from the fuckers who had murdered her dad as possible. The low buzz of our connection seemed solid, though. No sharp emotional swings, no big feelings in any direction. I had to assume that meant she was fine, which meant I had time to get some work done. “Let’s eradicate this nest.”

Cutter stepped in beside me, looking out over the house with a focused expression. His energy a real close match to mine.

“Thinking about Locklyn?”

I ducked my chin once, making my acquiescence subtle. “Thinking about Zella?”

He kept his eyes on the house, but his jaw tightened. “Let’s get this shit done. I hate these dead motherfuckers.”

Which was about as much of an answer as I could expect from him in that moment.

Our forward crew crept onto the actual vamp lands with weapons drawn, the secondary line following closely. A total of twelve men ready to take down the slightest threat. None came. Even once Cutter and Zed had mounted the porch, the entire compound remained still and silent. Instead of busting in, we surrounded the house in intervals close enough to keep an eye on one another, everyone peeking into windows or looking for access points. Still no movement on the inside, but that didn’t mean shit. They could have been lying in wait for us, which meant we kept to the plan.

Once we had the house surrounded, Zed gave the signal to move in. The idea had been to create immediate chaos, every man busting inside by whatever access point he had closest to him. To act quickly and without care for noise or damage. I broke through a window with Rush right on my tail, both of us landing with a roll before jumping to our feet and immediately assessing the room around us.

“Door,” Rush yelled as I yanked the door all the way open to look behind the slab.

“Clear.” I rushed through the empty space and into the hallway, gun raised and eyes forward. “South bedroom and hallway secure.”

Cutter answered from the other side of the house. “North bedroom, bathroom, and hallway secure.”

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